13 AAP MLAs Have Now Been Arrested. What's Going On?

13 and counting.

Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, chief of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP) attends a session at the Delhi assembly in New Delhi February 14, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

A highly dubious record has now come to rest with the Aam Aadmi Party. 13 of its 67 legislators in Delhi have been arrested since the party came to power last year. AAP obviously cries foul play by the Bhartiya Janata Party, which rules the Centre and controls the Delhi Police, but the voting public is wondering if so many charges and arrests can be made without some ground. And if indeed that is the case, what's going on with AAP legislators?

Kejriwal has recently accused the centre of conspiracy after his name appeared in an FIR registered over alleged irregularities in recruitments at the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

FIR was drafted in PMO. Even Meena had no knowledge. There's conspiracy to destabilise Del govt. Will expose it in spl assembly session https://t.co/62zTUBieev

Khan, in his defence, said that he had not even met the woman. A video circulated by the party purportedly showed her telling a person that SHO of the Jamia Nagar police station asked her to add allegations of rape and murder to the FIR. Although she herself told the police that Khan did not meet her at that time, she claimed in a recorded statement before the magistrate on July 22 that he tried to mow her down when she was returning from his house.

A fresh FIR was lodged against the MLA, already in jail, for allegedly threatening a group of protestors who had gathered to protest the lack of basic amenities in Okhla. One complainant, Syed Taseer Ahmad, is quoted in the complaint as saying that the MLA used the word: "agar dharna khatam nahi kiya toh tujhe main kaat ke Yamuna mein phenk dunga" (if you do not call off the protest, I will cut you into pieces and throw into the Yamuna)".

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NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 10: Newly elected AAP MLA from Okhla constituency Amanatullah Khan arrives for first meeting with Arvind Kejriwal at Constitution Club on February 10, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Prime Minister Narendra Modis party BJP suffers its first major election defeat since coming to power last May as anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal wins a landslide victory in Delhi state polls. AAP won in 67 seats while BJP managed to win only in 3 seats. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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AAP leader Somnath Bharti addressing the media after the police arrested AAP legislator Dinesh Mohaniya for allegedly misbehaving with a woman and slapping a 60-year-old man, on June 25, 2016 in New Delhi, India.

3. Naresh Yadav

Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav was arrested and sent to two days in custody after he was accused of offering Rs 1 crore to his friend Vijay Kumar in Jind to tear pages from the Quran to spark communal tension in Malerkotla on June 24. Yadav has maintained that he was victim of a political conspiracy. Yadav's lawyer has claimed that police had acted out of malice and that there was no evidence against him. The arrest comes even as the party gears up to fight the Municipal polls in Punjab.

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PATIALA, INDIA - JULY 5: AAP Party Delhi MLA Naresh Yadav coming out after being questioned for five hours by Punjab Police officials at CIA Staff Office on July 5, 2016 in Patiala, India. Naresh Yadav, AAP MLA from Mehrauli, had been booked in the alleged sacrilege incident after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the legislator. (Photo by Bharat Bhushan/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

4. Dinesh Mohaniya

It was high drama at AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya's press conference when police officials pulled him away in front of TV cameras and members of the Delhi press on charges of molestation and sexual harassment. The complaint followed a similar pattern as that of Amanatullah Khan's. Mohaniya was booked on June 23 after local residents of Sangam Vihar alleged that the MLA and his supporters misbehaved with them when they went to complain about the area's water supply. The arrest led a furious Kejriwal to ask on Twitter if PM Modi has declared an Emergency in Delhi. Mohaniya is out on bail.

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Newly elected AAP MLA from Sangam Vihar constituency Dinesh Mohaniya arrives for first meeting with Arvind Kejriwal at Constitution Club on February 10, 2015 in New Delhi, India.

5. Manoj Kumar

AAP MLA Manoj Kumar, who was arrested and later released on bail in a case of cheating and land grabbing in July, 2015, faced fresh charges of domestic violence this year. Delhi Commission for Women chairperson, Swati Maliwal, told PTI that the MLA's wife had lodged a complaint of domestic abuse against the MLA from, following which the Kondli MLA appeared before her.

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Manoj, AAP candidate for Kondli assembly seat going to file his nomination papers for the upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections 2015 at DC office at Geeta Colony on January 16, 2015 in New Delhi, India.

6. Commando Surender Singh

The party continued to suffer embarrassment after its MLA from Delhi Cantonment, Commando Surender Singh, was arrested in August 21, 2015, for allegedly assaulting a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) worker. A group of NDMC staff were on routine inspection in Delhi's Tughlaq road area when one member from the team was allegedly assaulted by Singh for asking to see an e-rickshaw driver's documents. Singh's run-in with the law started in May 2015, when he was accused of faking his Bachelor's degree by his opponent in the polls, BJP's Karan Singh Tanwar.

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Former NSG commando Surender Singh at a press conference in New Delhi.

7. Akhilesh Tripathi

Akhilesh Tripathi, an MLA from Model Town, was arrested in November, 2015, on a case of rioting and criminal intimidation from 2013. The AAP MLA allegedly defied repeated orders for appearance in the case. An NBW was issued against him for failing to appear before the court. He was acquitted after the witness in the case turned hostile.

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Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, MLA Model Town, with his family members arrives to attend AAP MLAs and family members meeting organized by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at CM residence on October 11, 2015 in New Delhi, India.

8. Prakash Jarwal

The MLA from Deoli is the third from the party to be arrested on a molestation charge. An FIR lodged at the Greater Kailash Police Station accused him of misbehaving with a member of the Rashtravadi Janata Party. The victim said she had first approached the offices of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the then police commissioner BS Bassi -- both with a history of confrontation with the AAP -- before filing the FIR. Jarwal said he would 'quit politics' if there was any evidence against him. Incidentally, he was arrested in May 2014 also for allegedly assaulting an engineer of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

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LUCKNOW, INDIA - JUNE 10: Former Delhi Law Minister and AAP leader Jitendra Singh Tomar escorted by Delhi police officials at Charbag station en route to Faizabad on June 10, 2015 in Lucknow, India. 49-year-old Tomar, AAP MLA from Trinagar, resigned as Delhi Law Minister after his arrest over the alleged fake degree. Tomar claims to have done his BSc from RML Avadh University, Faizabad. Police are taking him there for an on the spot verification and questioning. (Photo by Ashok Dutta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

MLA Jagdeep Singh was arrested in May, 2016, for allegedly assaulting the manager of a waste management company, according to reports. He was let off on bail due to a health problem but was called back to complete the legal formalities. In a bizarre twist to the case, the MLA later tweeted that his arrest was just a "rumour", after he visited the police station for the second time.

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NEW DELHI, INDIA - JUNE 30: AAP Leader Jagdeep Singh addressing the Delhi Assembly on the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots on the last day of Budget Session at Delhi Vidhan Sabha on June 30, 2015 in New Delhi, India. The Delhi Assembly today passed the Rs 41,129 crore budget for 2015-16 the first by the AAP government with a major focus on education, health and transport sectors. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Former Delhi Minister and AAP MLA Sandeep Kumar was arrested on 3 September after a woman approached the Sultanpuri police station in North Delhi complaining of sexual harassment. The complaint came after a TV channel aired secret video of Kumar having sex with a woman.